WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing on the nomination of Susan Monarez to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..
Click here to watch the hearing live.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.
Thank you, Dr. Monarez, for appearing before the Committee.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed to communicate crucial information to the American people. When the public needed to know the most up-to-date information on the outbreak, they were forced to rely on the Johns Hopkins data dashboard because CDC did not have that information available.
The agency failed to detect and anticipate the spread of COVID-19, even when the virus had already reached the United States.
Under President Biden, instead of acting impartially, CDC coordinated with outside political groups like teachers’ unions, allowing them to influence pandemic health guidance. By the way, the teachers’ unions then used CDC guidance, which they helped write, as justification to push for the continued closure of schools nationwide when other public health officials were saying it was safe to open– at great detriment to American children’s learning and mental health.
When the American people needed the CDC most, the agency failed. Bureaucratic decision-making impeded CDC’s ability to improve Americans’ health. Continued reforms are needed to regain public trust.
Earlier this year, Senate Republicans launched a working group to develop legislative solutions to improve the CDC. As a public health official for nearly 20 years, Dr. Monarez brings insight that can help guide this process. I look forward to working together if she is confirmed.
For the last four years, Republicans have understood the deficiencies in the CDC and wanted change. But restoring Americans’ trust in the CDC requires more than policy. It requires a strong leader committed to achieving permanent culture change within the agency.
This is the time, with President Trump and a Republican Congress, to put someone in charge of the CDC who can institute systemic change and ensure the agency operates effectively to benefit Americans.
Above all, the CDC director must ensure agency decisions are transparent and based on science.
I want to acknowledge that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is meeting as we speak. The CDC director plays a vital role in this process, having the power to choose whether to adopt ACIP’s recommendations.
I want President Trump to be successful in his efforts to restore trust in our public health system. Given that there is no confirmed CDC Director – along with an ACIP panel that has very few members, many of whom lack broad vaccine and immunology expertise – there are concerns about the rushed nature of this process.
To be clear, there is a difference between reviewing recommendations about the appropriateness of a patient receiving an immunization AND broadly declaring a vaccine to be dangerous or unsafe if received without the evidence to support such a declaration.
If confirmed, Dr. Monarez, you will be tasked with strengthening public trust in CDC, including ensuring decisions on immunizations are rooted in the gold standard of science. This mission is crucial to your success and the success of the entire Trump administration. I want to work with you and Secretary Kennedy to ensure the agency is successful in restoring its credibility and in Making America Healthy Again.
The Director also needs to ensure the agency is nimble and not caught flat-footed in response to public health threats, while also addressing drivers of disease to make America healthy again. CDC’s unique capabilities in data analysis, laboratory science, and public health responses are key to achieving President Trump’s goals. Continued data modernization while preserving privacy will be crucial to restoring faith in the CDC.
Dr. Monarez and I have talked about these issues at length, and I look forward to continuing our discussion.
With that, I recognize Senator Sanders for his opening statement.
###
For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our website or Twitter at @GOPHELP.